PROVIDENCE – A Texas man has pleaded guilty to his role in an online romance scam in which elderly women – including a Rhode Island woman – were cheated out of a total of more than $1.6 million by someone pretending to be an Army general, according to U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha.
Fola Alabi, also known as Folayemi Alabi, 51, of Richmond, Texas, pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.
The scheme involved an alleged accomplice pretending to be a general stationed overseas who befriended women on social media, gradually gaining their trust by feigning romantic or personal interest, prosecutors said.
The women were from at least 11 states, including Rhode Island, and many were in their 70s and 80s and either widowed or divorced.
A 78-year-old victim in Rhode Island told authorities that she was asked to send $60,000 to “General Miller” to help ship his belongings back to the U.S., according to court documents. She was asked to send the check payable to Full Circle Import Exports, a company created by Alabi, and she mailed the check to Alabi’s residence in Texas, prosecutors said.
The woman sent a check for $60,000 and was going to send an additional $240,000, but her bank determined that she might be a victim of fraud, put a hold on her account and contacted the Westerly police, authorities said.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Alabi will forfeit assets derived from his criminal conduct, including his Texas home and $31,773.22 contained in a bank account.
Alabi is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25.
(Material from the Associated Press was used in this report)
